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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

This is a very simple potato dish from Lyons,France.It is said that people in Lyons are potato lovers and consume it in different ways and anytime of the day.Well,this is just a proof as it is nothing but sliced fried/baked potatoes with caramelized onions.It takes some time to make,but is really simple.I used the classic lyonnaise recipe from here and made it with very little changes.

Ingredients:Baking Potatoes: 2 very bigOnion: 1 big,chopped thinly

Butter : 1tbsp+SaltPepperOther SpicesParsley for garnish (optional)

Preparation:Chop onion into long,thin pieces.Peel and slice potatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices.Actually you can use a mandoline for that.I simply sliced them.Boil water ,adding salt and add the potato slices.Boil for 2 minutes only.Remove and keep aside.

Heat olive oil and add the chopped onion.Add salt,pepper (I did not add any at the beginning of this,but at last) and let the onions caramelize slowly.This will take about 20 minutes atleast with stirring in between.Its better you have wide pan for this for even cooking.You can also add garlic minced at the last stage,though I avoided that.Traditionally no spices are added to this.Once done,keep aside.

Melt butter in the same pan or microwave and pour into the baking dish.Spread the butter all over the dish.You can use as much butter as you like and give the dish a thick butter layer.Then layer the dish with one third of potatoes.Top the potatoes with required spices and salt-I used salt and pepper and little oregano on the top layer.Top these with half of onions.It looks like..

Top the onions with another layer of potatoes and continue this layering till the ingredients are used up or the dish is completely filled.The final layer should preferably be potatoes.Final look..

Add more spices and seasonings if needed and bake in a pre heated oven for 10-12 minutes at 400F or until the top starts browning.I used very big potatoes and I had three layers and I pulled these out of the oven,just as the top layer started to brown.

Serve hot as a snack/side dish with rice/breads.Simply spoon from the dish into the plate and garnish with fresh herbs like coriander,chives,thyme or parsley.

The dish has no spices,apart from salt and pepper and is buttery tasting.So make sure you salt it correctly.You can add garlic and also other spices like parsley or oregano or your choice.Garnishing can also be as per choice.I used parsley which leaves a refreshing taste.

This baked version is very good when one has to serve a crowd or even feeling lazy as I did.If you are using only little quantity,like a small potato,then you can simply pan fry the slices after par cooking-boiling in salted water-sprinkling the spices and finally adding the caramelized onions and heating everything through for a few minutes.But the disadvantage here is you should be alert to avoid burning these and concentration and patience is required especially after spending 20 minutes caramelizing the onion. :)